MS copied in Egypt in 1354 CE

Copied by Farrukh ibn Abd al-Latif

Commonly referred to as the Automata al-Jazari's scientific text is among the most fascinating illustrated works from the Arab world. It is devoted to the construction of fifty mechanical devices, ranging from fountains, clocks, and automated palace gates to pitchers, locks, and bolts. One chapter discusses hand-washing devices, such as this large ewer held by a kneeling female attendant in a domed pavilion. Al-Jazari maintains that once the bird whistles, water pours into a basin below. A duck then drinks the used water and releases it through its tail into a container hidden under the platform
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Folio from an Automata by al-Jazari; part of a water-clock, with a man seated in a balcony
1354
Mamluk period
Opaque watercolor, gold, silver and ink on paper
H: 39.7 W: 27.5 cm
Egypt
F1932.19Smithsonian
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